It’s either a creative way for a casino company to generate revenue from “unproductive” space or a swift kick to the groin with a steel-toed boot: Caesars Palace has unveiled a new addition to its iconic fountains and our Las Vegas WTF meter is about to have a meltdown.

First, let’s take a look at what was arguably one of the most spectacular photo ops in all of Las Vegas.

Soak it in. Stunning, right? You might even say jaw-dropping. Now, take a deep breath.

The image above is one of the things that pops into our mind when people say “Las Vegas.” The other is boobs, but that’s probably just us.

On Sep. 28, 2017, Caesars Palace debuted a Samsung Galaxy Studio sitting atop its fountains. The fountains, we should mention, an estimated 20 million people a year stroll by along Las Vegas Boulevard.

Here’s a look at the Samsung Galaxy Studio that will reside on the Caesars fountains through the end of January 2018.

We wish this has been done with Photoshop, but sadly “ani.” That’s “no” in Korean. Samsung is a South Korean company. Please try and keep up.

The Samsung Galaxy Studio is a place for guests to get “hands-on experience exploring the latest Galaxy products.” The pop-up shop has a virtual reality theater, offers customer care for existing customers, boasts interactive art installations and has a retail component.

This location is, honestly, possibly the best location in the world if you’re Samsung.

But here’s the thing.

Just because Samsung offered Caesars a metric hell-ton of money to have a store on their fountains doesn’t mean the offer had to be accepted.

Maybe we’re naive or overly romantic, but it feels like the Caesars bean counters have flagrantly shat upon the entire history of one of Sin City’s most venerable megaresorts? And how mad must we be to use the word “shat” for only the second time in the history of this blog?

What dollar amount has been assigned to an epic Las Vegas photo op that’s been taken and shared by millions of people around the world?

And, trust us, just because this particular use of the space is temporary, there’s no way this is a one-off.

Granted, we are a blog. We don’t have to pay salaries or answer to shareholders. Caesars Entertainment, owner of Caesars Palace, is slowly, finally emerging from bankruptcy. It’s a business. We get all that.

We also don’t have to like it.

Why do you insist upon making us weep, Gaius? That’s really his first name, so spare us the hate mail.

The recent monetization (which we’re still not convinced is a real word) of “idle space” at Caesars is an illustration of how such stories can gain momentum. Because when things like this happens, in the words of Billy Crystal, “It’s not fun, it’s not funny.” If you think MGM Resorts hasn’t pondered a scenario similar to the one at Caesars Palace for its own fountains, we have a half-scale Eiffel Tower to sell you.

Update (9/30/17): Our friends at KTNV did a follow-up to our story, and included our thoughts, so it’s well worth a look, because you can never get too much us.

In the story, Caesars Entertainment says, “The Samsung Studio is a temporary structure where guests can experience the newest in Samsung products and an interactive virtual reality experience. With only five locations in the U.S., Samsung has selected Las Vegas for this surprise and delight attraction and Caesars Palace is excited about bringing this experience to its center Strip location. Additionally we are receiving positive feedback from our guests and passerbys.”

First, it’s “passersby.”

Second, claiming there’s been positive feedback from guests and passersby about a Samsung pop-up store is easily one of the most absurd things we’ve ever heard, and we’ve heard a lot of absurd things, trust us.

We’d love to hear your thoughts, even if you think we should get over it, so share a comment.

For a moment I though the image was a photoshop. And then I passed by Casers and was appalled. It’s disgusting, especially since the smartphone industry is practically stagnant today. I doubt they’ll sell anything there.

When we were there in August I noticed one of the Forum Shops’ fountains on LVB was gone. There were always people taking pictures by that one too. It’s weird that LVB is becoming even more of a Miracle Mile of sorts for retailers…they’ll pay just to have a presence on the strip. Won’t keep me away…but it is something to watch.

I don’t really care for Caesars. Like so many aging Las Vegas properties it has become a jumbled up maze. Stuff plopped everywhere, kinda like crap by committee. Reminds me of a high class Riviera now a days.

It’s a huge turd, dropped right at the front door of Caesars palace. Have the guests at CP resort just been tricked into a game of ding dong ditch, and the Samsung pop up store is a big flaming bag of poop. I pinch my nose in protest.

Guess we should be happy it’s not a CVS? I mean I get it, I’d let Samsung pay me a crap-ton of money to put a store in my front yard but then again, all I’d lose is a half-dead tree and a weed-infested lawn.

We don’t have to like it, but this has been going on for years now. The pirate show at TI, the scaling down of the volcano show at Mirage, Bally’s entrance turning into a low-rent mall, etc, etc. If it doesn’t pay it’s not going to be around long on the strip.

In the bean counters eyes we don’t gamble enough anymore to have nice things that don’t produce profits for shareholders.

Everything is changing. Technology, retail, etc. and unfortunately, even Las Vegas Boulevard has to change with it. It is absolutely sad to all of us who know how it “was”, but the new people walking by will never know any better. Just look at how lucky we were to have had those great experiences, because they are now gone forever. The new people will just have this to look at and admire! Reality is we all know these properties need money, and they have to look at every crack in the sidewalk to find it. Just like this parking charge issue. I just got back from L.A. and had to pay $45 to park. Las Vegas is cheap compared to that! Great blog and keep up the good work!!!

Seen the interview on channel 13. Funny how you picture someone based off hearing their voice. Because I listen to the podcast. And then see them on the news. And they aren’t what you expect. Nice news piece.

This isn’t the first time Caesars has done this – nine years ago “The View” talk show broadcast live from that exact spot for an entire week. A temporary set was constructed over the fountains just like this Samsung pop up. They would be crazy to do this permanently but then again there used to be a beautiful fountain outside Paris Las Vegas that is gone, the fountain that used to be in front of Monte Carlo is gone and, as mentioned before, the front of Bally’s is now an outdoor mall. I wouldn’t be surprised at anything they do.

Its a sad catch 22 of course. This is some of the most expensive and valuable real estate in the world center strip, so it makes sense to rent it instead of letting it sit idle,but it is only the most valuable real estate in the world because people come to see the extravagance. If you paper over the extravagance with a shopping mall, it won’t be valuable real estate any more. But why should Caesars subsidize the rest of the strip with fancy sights while the other hotels fill their strip front with rentable space. Seems like the city may eventually need to step in and buy up some of these things to keep them interesting.

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